Blog

Associate Professor Wu Chen from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) has co-authored a groundbreaking study revealing that the global shift to electric vehicles generates far more mining waste than previously understood. The research, recently accepted by Nature Communications, quantifies for the first time the complete “hidden flows”—mining waste including overburden, waste rock, and tailings—along China’s passenger car supply chain.

A groundbreaking study involving researchers from the RISE team at Peking University and SMILE Lab from SDU reveals the hidden vulnerabilities in the global lithium supply chain network, a critical component for achieving carbon neutrality goals. The research, published in Environmental Science & Technology, demonstrates how highly interconnected supply chains exhibit a “robust yet fragile” paradox—resilient to random shocks but vulnerable to targeted disruptions.

Despite their global reputation for environmental leadership, Nordic countries face significant challenges in plastic waste management, according to a new study co-led by Associate Professor Wu Chen from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The research, published in ACS Sustainable Resource Management, provides the first comprehensive, polymer-level analysis of plastic flows across all five Nordic nations.

SMILE Team has led the development of a groundbreaking global dataset that maps anthropogenic material stocks at unprecedented resolution. The research, published in Scientific Data (Nature), provides the first comprehensive view of steel, aluminum, and cement stocks worldwide at a 500×500-meter grid resolution from 2000 to 2019.

SMILE Team has co-authored a groundbreaking study that reveals critical insights into the global sand and gravel crisis. The research, published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, tracks five decades of sand and gravel stocks and flows across 184 countries.

On May 8th, the research team from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)—Morten Birkved, Wu Chen, Xinyi Jiang, Antonia Klipp, and Zinan Lin—held their first in-person meeting with industry partners Lene Brix from Circue and Pernille Krohn Ohms from Rambøll in Copenhagen.

The QuiVal MSCA Doctoral Network officially launched with a workshop hosted by TU Delft, bringing together 13 PhD candidates and academic staff from partner universities across Europe.